††††††††††† In 1995 the
Edmonton Transit System sold two surplus BBC coaches (numbers 109 and 110) to Dayton.
This was two years after the coaches they leased to Toronto
had returned. However neither 109 nor 110 were among the coaches leased to Toronto.
The coaches retained their Edmonton
numbers, and were modified for service in Dayton
and painted in the local transit system livery. They were both stored in 2001.

††††††††††† Meanwhile
in 2008, the Edmonton City Council stupidly made the decision to abandon the
trolleybus system. The last coaches ran in May of 2009. Edmonton
held on to two coaches. One coach went to a museum in Alberta.
28 BBC coaches were sold to Bulgaria,
but at the time I wrote this, they hadnít cleared customs yet. One coach went
to the Seashore Trolley Museum. Another went to the Illinois Railway Museum.
The coach that Mark and I rode in 2007 on our Western Canada Trip went to a
trolleybus museum in England! A historical association in Vancouver
with vintage trolleybuses that occasionally run fantrips on Vancouverís
trolleybus network acquired a BBC coach as well.

††††††††††† Meanwhile,
someone approached the Dayton RTA to see if they would fix up BBC 110 for a
charter. They told him if he could find so many people, they would. I was one
of 40 odd people who expressed interest. This charter was advertised as a ďonce
in a lifetime eventĒ.

††††††††††† Since 110
hadnít been run for years and some components had been taken off, there was a
little doubt that the coach could be resurrected, but in March, the coach was
moved to RTAís main garage. Optimism grew in mid March when 110 was
photographed on a test run.

†

††††††††††† Meanwhile,
I had been planning on riding Amtrakís Piedmont between Charlotte and Raleigh
North Carolina, so I figured I would head out that way after the charter
weekend.

††††††††††† My final
plan was to ride VIA train 95 to Niagara Falls where I would meet my aunt and
get a ride to Buffalo Depew station and pick up the westbound Lakeshore Limited
and ride to Toledo where I would catch a Greyhound bus to Dayton where I would
spend the weekend. After I would take another Greyhound bus to Columbus and fly
to Baltimore the next day and pick up Amtrakís Crescent to Charlotte. I would
then ride the Piedmont to Raleigh and overnight there. I would then take the
Silver Star to Newark and then fly home the next day. The trip unfolded as
follows.

May 20, 2010:

††††††††††† I left
after 3:00 pm. I got a ride to Finch from my dad. Even though he had known
about this for months, he forgot I was leaving that day! On the subway, I met
up with someone from the Toronto Transportation Society. They werenít going on
the charter. We talked a bit about transit until he got off a few stops before
me.

I got to Union in plenty of time
however. I lined up to board train 95. When I got to Union, I noticed trains 61
and 45 were going to arrive 45-50 minutes late. I also saw a large group of
kids waiting to board.

††††††††††† After
awhile, I heard an announcement that train 95 was to depart at 6:00 pm. That
didnít happen. Other passengers and I became impatient. Train 87 to Sarnia was
also delayed. Train 61 becomes 87 in Toronto and train 45 becomes 95 in
Toronto.

††††††††††† Soon,
people were allowed to board train 87. We still had to wait. Meanwhile, train
68 which departs Toronto for Montreal at 6:35 pm started to board. VIA
announced we would board train 95 right after 68 was finished boarding since we
would now be boarding through the same gate. I remarked the crew was too lazy
to move the train ahead a few coach lengths!

††††††††††† The group
of kids were allowed to board first. Next, commuters were allowed to board much
to the frustration of regular VIA passengers. Next, we were finally allowed to
board. I photographed my train and VIA train 68 which had LRC coaches instead
of Hep2 coaches as it usually does on Thursdays.

††††††††††† I was
seated in LRC coach 3317, the second coach in the train. The train left 49
minutes late. As the train passed VIAís Toronto Maintenance Centre, I filmed it
noticing the Canadian and the LRC locomotives at the west end of the yard. The
TRHA is raising money to buy one of the units and needs $40,000 by August to
purchase the unit. They also need a lot more money to move it to the
roundhouse.

††††††††††† There would
be no food service on the train so I would have to get dinner in Niagara Falls.
The train stopped at Oakville. West of Oakville, we passed train 83 which had
departed Toronto at 5:30 pm. We also encountered a slow order that kept us at
30 MPH for 10 miles. The train soon left the zone and picked up speed. We soon
stopped at Aldershot.

††††††††††† I was
talking with the man seated across from me. He is a railfan lives south of
Syracuse and has a caboose in his backyard!

††††††††††† As we
passed through Hamilton, VIA train 98 passed. Unfortunately it was on the other
side of the train so I was unable to film it. It had P32AC-DM #710, two Amfleet
1 coaches, two Amfleet 2 coaches, and an Amfleet 1 cafť car with business class
seats.

††††††††††† The train
stopped at Grimsby. As we approached St. Catherines, I filmed the St.
Catherines bus garage, though the view was obstructed by a building. We stopped
at St. Catherines. After we left, we stopped to let a ship through the
drawbridge at the Welland Canal. I once again wished CN could have a secondary
drawbridge like in Montreal.

††††††††††† After
awhile, the train was allowed to proceed. We arrived into Niagara Falls 75
minutes late. However, the crew told us if we kept our tickets, we would get a
discount next time we travel on VIA. This is like what happened on my 2009
Chaleur trip which helped me get to Halifax.

††††††††††† After I got
off the train, I photographed it.

††††††††††† I then
walked back down the platform and met up with my aunt. I loaded my bags into
her carís truck and went out and took one more photo of the train.

††††††††††† I saw a new
Niagara Transit Nova LFS pass by. I was a little surprised. We then went to a
McDonalds near my auntís house where I bought dinner. We then went back to my
auntís house for a little while where I phoned home and then watched some TV.

††††††††††† My aunt and
I left around 10:00 pm and we headed to the Peace Bridge. The line up wasnít
too bad. The agent who interviewed us was okay; not anal. We soon left and
arrived made a stop at a gas station before we got to Buffalo Depew station
shortly after 11:00 pm. When we arrived, I saw a westbound freight with two
BNSF locomotives leading a long string of covered hoppers. I called Julie to
find out when train 49 was due. At first, it was on time, and then it was 23
minutes late.

May 21, 2010:

††††††††††† I headed
out onto the platform while waiting for the westbound Lake Shore Limited. While
I was waiting, I watched another person waiting for the train juggling. Train
49 arrived 27 minutes late. When it arrived, I photographed it.

††††††††††† I was
seated in a refurbished Amfleet 2 coach in the New York section of the train.
With the Lakeshore Limited splitting in Albany again, the locomotives and first
five coaches come from Boston while the rest of the train comes from New York.
I took a seat on the left hand side of the train and took some Nyquil as I was
getting over a cold. I pulled out the blanket I bought on the Three Rivers back
in 2005 and lay down. I noticed the person who was juggling was seated across
from me. The train departed after making a double stop. I noted to myself this
was the first time Iíve ridden Amtrak in over a year.

††††††††††† I dozed off
and on, but was awake when we stopped at Erie. †† A little while later, we stopped in
Cleveland. I only saw a few taxis which did not appear to be from Yellow Cab,
(the company I used on my Cleveland Make-up trip) or the taxi company that made
me miss the Lakeshore Limited on my Washington-Cleveland trip. Cleveland was a
smoking stop, so I stepped off and took some photos of the train.

††††††††††††††††††††††† I
got back on the train and we soon departed. I laid down for awhile until we
were approaching Toledo. I gathered my stuff together and got ready to get off.
The sun came up as the train arrived on time! I got off and took some photos.

††††††††††† I
then walked to the west end of the station and took some more photos from a
bridge over the tracks.

††††††††††† I
filmed the train leaving and then took one more photo.

††††††††††† I
then walked over to a bus stop to catch a bus to the Greyhound station. I had plenty
of time. I took out a sheet of paper where I had written how to get to the
Greyhound station in Toledo and how to get to the hotel in Dayton from the
Greyhound station.

††††††††††† I
walked over to a bus stop. A few minutes later, a TARTA bus pulled up and I got
on after the driver told me that she goes near the area of the Greyhound
station. A few minutes later I got off. I then waited around and photographed a
TARTA RTS.

††††††††††† There
was construction and I couldnít find the Greyhound station right away. When I
got there, the terminal wasnít open yet! It was also raining. I bought some
cereal at a nearby gas station and ate it across the street from the station.

††††††††††† There
were a couple people hanging around the station. One was a guy who asked me
questions about my Ipod and if I was gay? Jeez, none of your business! He also
asked if I had week and asked me for $5 to help get him a ticket to Detroit. He
reminded me of that guy on my Arizona trip who kept asking me for $10. However
when I told him I wouldnít give him money, he didnít keep asking. I walked away
from right away.

††††††††††† A
taxi driver pulled into the terminal and started talking to me. He told me drug
dealers often hang around. I told him about the guy I had just seen. He told me
security was beefed up in the area, but someone was robbed in the washroom
where there are no cameras. The taxi driver also told me that some cab
companies in Toledo donít take the most direct route just so they can get a
higher fare.

††††††††††† Soon,
the terminal was opened. I went inside and bought a ticket to Dayton. The guy
who asked me all those questions also entered. Fortunately, I wasnít robbed or
anything, but I was relieved when my bus finally arrived. This was one of the
few times Iíve felt nervous on my trips, but I didnít expect Toledo to be more
ďdangerousĒ than New York!

††††††††††† The
bus left on time. The bus was pretty full and I sat in the back. The seat
cushions werenít securely attached and during the ride, I had to adjust them a
lot.

††††††††††† After
the bus hit the highway, I saw the Amtrak station. I was feeling tired so I
laid down to have a nap.

††††††††††† I
woke up when the bus stopped at Findlay, Ohio. This was a meal stop where we
could purchase food if we desired. I wasnít hungry, but I did buy some snacks
from a store. I also used the time to photograph the bus.

††††††††††† I
got back on the bus and we soon left. I laid down again. After awhile, I woke
up. The bus pulled off the highway and stopped at Lima, Ohio. We passed over a
few railway crossings, though no trains came during our stop. The bus soon left
Lima and several minutes later, we were back on the highway.

††††††††††† Over
an hour later, we were approaching Dayton. We arrived at Dayton RTAís Northwest
Hub. Until a few months ago, the Greyhound station was downtown. Why they
changed it, I donít know.

††††††††††† The
bus arrived on time. I got off and took a photo of the bus.

††††††††††† I
then got my bag and went inside the terminal. A few minutes later, I realized I
didnít have the paper that told me how to get to my hotel on transit. I thought
I left it on the bus. The bus was still there, so I got back on and looked
around the area I was sitting. It wasnít there.

††††††††††† However,
I wasnít completely lost. I had the street address. I also know I had to take
the route 2 bus downtown and transfer. However, I couldnít remember which route
I had to connect to. I also had my hotel address.

††††††††††† RTA
Gillig #2701 pulled into the terminal on route 2. I got on and got a transfer.
The bus soon left. The route made several turns and along the way, I saw one of
Daytonís Skoda trolleybuses that make up their revenue trolleybus fleet in
RTAís new livery.

††††††††††† Soon,
we were in downtown Dayton. I began wondering where to get off. Just before I
was about to get off, we pulled into RTAís downtown terminal. I got off and
went inside. I saw there was a computer with Dayton RTAís website and I found
their trip planner and was able to get directions from the terminal to my
hotel. I also bought a weekly pass.

††††††††††† I
went out to catch the route 19 to my hotel. While I was waiting, I photographed
a RTA Nova RTS and a D35LF. The Novas are in the process of being retired and
the D35LFs are going to be withdrawn in the next few years.

††††††††††† The route
19 bus arrived and I got on. I rode it for 13 minutes to right in front of my
hotel. Along the way, I saw a yard filled with buses and three Skoda
trolleybuses. I wondered if this was the garage and thought BBC #110 must be
inside. I also noticed that the automated stop announcements donít only
announce what stop is next, but they also have advertisements for companies/organizations
that play when the bus passes where the store/organization is.

††††††††††† I was
staying at the Hotel Pure Dayton. I had booked my hotel online with
hotwire.com. They give a price for a hotel and the approximate area itís
located in, but not the name until you make the reservation. I got to my hotel
and checked in.

††††††††††† I phoned
home and let my parents know I was in Dayton. I then bought lunch at a
hamburger place across the street and waited for a bus downtown. The bus
arrived after several minutes and I rode to the downtown transit terminal.
Shortly after I got there, I photographed a Gillig hybrid bus and RTS #9730. I
then boarded 9730.

††††††††††† I boarded
9730 and the bus soon left. I rode the bus for a few minutes before I got off and
filmed it pulling away. I then took one more picture.

††††††††††† I then
caught another bus back to the terminal. When I got there, I saw someone taking
pictures across the street. I went across the street because I thought they
might also be coming on the charter. I turned out to be right. We talked about
buses for a bit. I asked where Daytonís few remaining D30LFs could be found. I
found out they were only used in the morning on the senior shuttles I also
learned they donít have radios installed. This reminded me of TTCís two
remaining Classics. They are confined to shuttle use on the Toronto Island and
regular TTC passengers wonít be able to ride them. One is on the island while
the other stays at the garage. However, as I found out last March, if the Classic
thatís not on the island is roadworthy, the TTC would let it out on a charter.

††††††††††† A few
minutes later, I saw a Skoda trolley approaching. I decided to go for a ride. I
photographed it before I got on.

††††††††††† I took some
interior shots of 9840 and then rode the bus for a few minutes before I got off
and filmed it pulling away. I then crossed the street and caught Skoda 9824
back to the terminal. When I got back, I took some photos of 9824.

††††††††††† I saw there
were more people across the street. I recognized some of them from the Toronto
Transportation Society including Richard Hooles who was in Ottawa the weekend
of the STO 7901 charter. I then filmed Skoda 9845 depart the terminal. 9845 is
one of only two Skoda trolleybuses to be painted in RTAís new livery.

††††††††††† A little
while later, I went for a ride on Skoda 9809. I rode it a few blocks before I
got off and crossed the street and took a photo.

††††††††††† I then
walked back to the terminal. On the way was a blind man who was constantly
shouting, ďSpare a dollar, spare some change.Ē

††††††††††† I didnít
give him any. When I got back, I photographed D35LF #2151 before I got on.

††††††††††† I took a
ride to the Dayton Convention Centre a few blocks away. I filmed the bus pulling
away and was about to walk back when it started to rain. Another D35LF pulled
up to a stop going towards the terminal and I ran and got on. When I got back I
met up with the transit fans who were taking pictures of buses. One of them was
user Captaintrolley from the Canadian Public Transit Discussion Board. She is
from Edmonton and was more then a little upset with Edmontonís decision to
abandon its trolleybus network. She would be the only woman on the charter. I
spoke with her and other people with her.

††††††††††† At one
point I went inside the terminal and filmed a display on the transportation
history of Dayton. I read that Dayton considered getting rid of their
trolleybus network in 1989, but reconsidered. Now if only Toronto, Edmonton,
and Hamilton would have reconsidered too!

††††††††††† We
photographed some buses including a Nova RTS and Skoda 9845 again.

††††††††††† The man
driving 9845 pulled over and asked why we were taking pictures. Captaintrolley
explained weíre transit fans and are here for a charter. The driver was okay
with it and drove off.

††††††††††† Given the
harassment transit and railfans have suffered post 9/11 I am tolerant of people
asking why weíre taking pictures. Itís the ones who say I shouldnít or am not
allowed I canít tolerate.

††††††††††† We went
back to taking photos. We photographed a D40LF in the new livery.

††††††††††† Meanwhile I
was getting hungry. I went across the street and had dinner at Subway.
Captaintrolley and the rest said goodbye and I said Iíd see them on the
charter.

††††††††††† After dinner,
I photographed a Nova RTS.

††††††††††† I then
walked back to the terminal and caught a D40LF on route 19 back to my hotel. I
noticed the seats in the D40LFs were very comfortable and looked almost like
seats youíd see in a suburban bus. I watched some TV before I asked for a
wake-up call at 7:00 am and called it a night.